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Indianapolis Colts Football

Training camp is less than a week away and taking a look at the weekend headlines indicates just that. From Ben Ijalana’s recovery, to Mike Chappell’s all-Indy team and Reggie Wayne and Robert Mathis giving back to the community, here is the major news of the weekend.

Each morning Colts.com will take a look at the top headlines surrounding the Indianapolis Colts from around the globe. What is the local and national media saying about the Colts?

Take a look below at the top pieces from Saturday, July 20th-Monday July 22nd.

The signal caller of Mike Chappell’s all-time Indy team comes with the 243rd player chosen in the 1988 NFL Draft.

Herrod’s coach Rick Venturi raved about what the eighth round pick meant to his defense.

“Herrod is so special to me,’’ Venturi said. “I spent the day with him at Ole Miss. We had a great one-on-one. We watched tape together. His workout wasn’t spectacular – he ran about a 4.8 (40) – and he was small (6-0, 249 pounds).

“But he had those eyes, and you would keep seeing it on tape after tape, tackle after tackle.’’

It’s that time of year again when Reggie Wayne is hitting the hardwood prior to training camp.

Wayne along with entertainer Amp Harris held a celebrity basketball game for the “Save the Youth” foundation.

Now, with the sneakers hung up for 2013, it’s all about the cleats moving forward.

“Every year I am excited,” said Wayne, who lead the Colts with 1,355 receiving yards in 2012.

“Every year I am excited just like it’s my first year. I think that is the mind-frame that you need going into training camp. Because if you go into camp with different thoughts, it will drain you. So I’m excited about it, I’m excited about this team, and the new additions added to the team. Our organization has done a great job of bringing guys in that we believe can fit into our system and help us win games. We’ve already set the stage and standards pretty high, so hopefully we can have the same mind-frame as last year and do some good things.”

A product of Alabama A&M, Mathis was surprisingly chosen in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft.

A total of 13 defensive ends were taken before him but they have only produced two Pro Bowls.

Five Pro Bowls later and Mathis is still remembering his roots.

“I want to let them know I come from where they come from,” he said of the 100-plus campers who spent the morning in drills and competitions on the fake grass of the A&M stadium. It’s a debt he repays to Alabama A&M, which “took a chance on me.”

The NCAA Tournament has been trimmed down to the Sweet 16 and for nearly all the 75 players currently on the Colts roster, fandom will have to turn elsewhere than the colleges they attended.

For wide receiver Reggie Wayne (Miami), nose tackle Brandon McKinney (Michigan State) and running back Delone Carter (Syracuse) hope is still there to watch their respective schools cut down the nets in Atlanta a week from Monday.

For others like Erik Walden (Middle Tennessee State) the dream died in the play-in game.

A trio of Ole Miss Rebels (cornerbacks Marsahy Green/Cassius Vaughn and offensive tackle Bradley Sowell) saw their school go from a No. 13 seed to a shot away from making the Sweet Sixteen.